Jul 17, 2008

kawoix | ....Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek should keep his pledge and resign from his post for failing to explain why the government raised the domestic fuel price so steeply and suddenly.

Parti Keadilan Rakyat Vice President Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said the Minister not only failed to answer Anwar's questions but also resorted to personal attacks, which is rather unprofessional.

According to him, Anwar was focused, relaxed and professional. "If there was a contest, Anwar would have won hands down 10 to 1," he said in a statement here Wednesday.

The Minister, he said, also did not answer the question posed by a member of the panel on how the RM13 billion savings from subsidy would be utilised to improve public transportation as only RM800 million was spent from the earlier commitment of RM4 billion from a similar saving.Shabery did not seem to listen to what Anwar was saying to the extent that the Minister could not differentiate between the revenues from Petronas to the government (which Anwar was referring) and the revenues retained and invested by Petronas.

He said the Minister was more interested in talking about the politics of the past (1974) which was totally unrelated to the debate rather than the current fuel price issues affecting the people."Unlike Anwar, who respected his opponent and avoided personal attacks, Shabery was totally defensive and unprofessional. Hence, Shabery should keep his pledge and resign. He is giving a bad leadership example for young people," he said.... selanjutnya.